


Carry you home on broken feet

by Milaley



Series: Silver Child [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Letters, Silver Eyes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-04-27 05:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14418489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milaley/pseuds/Milaley
Summary: Ruby looks out into the night. If they’re lucky, no one will attack them tonight.She has to get stronger. And she is. Slowly though. But fighting to survive almost every day will do that. And she’s slowly learning how to control or well... access the power that’s supposed to reside deep inside of her.After the fall of Beacon Ruby heads to Haven with her new makeshift team and writes letters to her old one





	1. Don't turn around to look closer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back :) in case you haven't read the first installment of this series, I strongly recommend that you do that first, otherwise quite a few things won't make sense. 
> 
> Otherwise, I'm still not a native speaker, and my mother tongue is German, not English  
> I'm also dyslexic so if you find any spelling mistakes, feel free to tell me, I promise I won't bite!
> 
> I hope you have fun reading, and I hope I don't disappoint you with my writing :)

It’s cold. Really cold. Ruby’s breath freezes every time she exhales, and the ground is almost too cold to sit on even with her sleeping bag as a cushion.

Behind her Jaune, Nora and Ren are sleeping peacefully, or well as peacefully as you can sleep camping in the woods in the middle of winter.

Earlier, when there was still light, they had come across an overturned tree and decided to use it to build a temporary shelter for the night. Cleared away as much snow as they could, made a makeshift roof out of twigs, half-rotten leaves and snow and build a campfire to keep warm.

Ruby had volunteered for first watch, in an hour it’ll be Nora’s turn, but for now, she’s enjoying the brief moment of peace and quiet.

It’s been almost one and a half months now since they left Patch and a little over one month and a week since they left Vale.

After leaving her home, Ruby and the rest of her makeshift team had headed to the city of Vale to stock up on supplies and find transportation to get them over the mountain range and closer to the eastern coast of Saunus.

Thanks to the fact that though they are only first-year students they’re all capable huntsman in their own way - even Jaune with his tactical mind  - they were able to catch a ride on a cargo ship meant to transport much needed medical supplies to a few smaller towns east of the mountains. A simple escort-and-protect mission. They then got out at the most eastern point of the supply run and have been traveling on foot ever since. It’s… hard traveling on foot in the middle of winter. Sleeping indoors is a luxury. Sometimes they manage to seek shelter in an old abandoned house, sometimes they manage to reach a village by nightfall and are able to sleep in the inn or the guestroom of a kindhearted resident. But most nights it’s camping in the woods, constructing makeshift shelters and taking turns keeping watch. They’ve never been more thankful for Professor Peach’s “advanced outdoor survival” classes.

Finding shelter is difficult but staying supplied is another thing. whenever they come to a village or town, they trade their skills and whatever lien they can spare for food and ammunition. But money isn’t unlimited and so there are quite a few days where two of them will go out to hunt down a small animal for dinner while the other two will prepare the shelter for the night.

They’re getting better at it. Surviving. It’s like her uncle said, one day out here is with a week in Beacon. They had to adapt quickly to the new conditions, constantly watch their back and stay alert while conserving ammunition and Food supplies.

Back at home, at Beacon and at patch all she had to do once her ammunition supply ran low, was to go to the nearest dust shop and buy new one. Now it’s way more difficult.

 

Ruby looks out into the night. If they’re lucky, no one will attack them tonight. But the fact remains that they are 4 young adults, all dealing with some form of recent trauma, so nightmares are set to happen. And since grimm are attracted to negative emotions, nights camping in the woods are often interrupted by some creature of grimm. Luckily most times it’s just small or young grimm. The older, more experienced ones mostly leave them alone

If the map is correct, then at their current peace they’ll come across a town called Vit in around 4 days. They hope to take on a few jobs there for a few days to stock up and maybe earn a few extra lien and then continue their journey. From that point forward it should be a 2-day walk until they reach the coast. Then they only have to gather enough money to take either an airship or a boat towards Anima. At least that’s the plan.

Ruby peers out into the darkness and wraps her cloak a little tighter around herself. The grimm are getting stronger. Or maybe it’s just that out here in the woods there aren’t as many Huntsman, to begin with, to fight them so they survive longer. But Ruby still has this eerie feeling that maybe since the fall of Beacon, there are simply more of them.

She has to get stronger. And she is. Slowly though. But fighting to survive almost every day will do that. And she’s slowly learning how to control or well... access the power that’s supposed to reside deep inside of her.

So far, her training mostly consists of meditating, feeling for her aura and inner self. It reminds her a bit of the few times her uncle had shown her a few self-healing aura techniques, but more advanced. Which reminds her…

Ruby relaxes her posture, sits up straighter and slows her breathing.

In and out, in and out. Close your eyes and search inside yourself, no not for your aura and semblance but for something else. Something that when you close your eyes and try to imagine looks like molten aluminum. Silver, liquidy and hot but not too hot and not glowing like molten silver would. It’s more difficult to take hold of and more difficult to locate then her aura, mostly because it seems to change location every time. Sometimes she finds it close to her heart, sometimes just behind her eyelids and one after a particularly long session of meditation her fingertips had been tingling with power that just cannot escape.

Progress is almost painfully slow, but there’s nothing she can do to speed it up.

“It will take time Ruby, you have to accept that gaining control over this is nothing that will simply happen overnight” her mother had told her when Ruby had turned to her one night to vent some of the pent-up frustration and misery.

That’s another thing.

Her dreams, her former nightmares are now more of an escape. A place of learning and advice. It’s something completely new to her. For the first time in… forever really she’s looking forward to going to sleep. not dreading it. Well not completely. Because normal nightmares haunt her now almost every night.

Who would have thought that there would come a time where Ruby would wish to find herself in that dreamscape of red grass and white trees, that she would wish for her silver eyed dreams? Definitely not her.

But when on a normal night your friends dying is all you dream about, then any kind of escape is welcome.

Otherwise, she is fine, she’s ok, no one needs to worry. She just has to press on and keep going, don’t look back, don’t turn around. Just. Keep. Going.

~~Because maybe Ruby knows that if she stops just for a second the past few months will catch up to her, that she'll break if she looks a little closer at herself.~~

 

* * *

 

_Dearest Weiss,_

_It’s been one month since the last time I wrote you. Too long to my liking. We (Jaune, Nora, Ren and me) are currently staying in a town called Grünly and because of that, I can send a letter to you, Yang and Blake. I know you won’t be able to answer me, but through writing you I think I might feel less lonely. It’s just not the same with my new team. It’s more of a temporary solution and I hope that one day, team RWBY will be back together. But for now, this has to make due._

_Jaune and I try to share leadership for now. We try to make all decisions together. I mean it’s still his team, but he said, that since they follow my incentive I am the real leader of this mission. I don’t know how I feel about it, leading them straight into danger. I don’t know… I just hope I can be a better leader to them then I was to you._

_I’m also a bit of a coward… I still haven’t told them about my dreams. And yes, I know if you were here you would call me out on it and give me one of your “I just can’t believe it Ruby!” looks. I miss that one. And every other look to be honest. I miss you so much it’s almost ridiculous. I always feared that one day all I had would suddenly be taken away from me. I just never imagined that there could be an “after” after that. That I would have to learn how to live with the situation. I don’t know yet but when I figure it out, I’ll certainly tell you._

_I hope you are well. I hope your family treats you well. I hope you are able to find at least some peace after what happened at Beacon two months ago._

_I am… as well as I can be right now. I have nightmares, normal ones. I saw it happen you know, saw Pyrrha die and was unable to do anything against it. It haunts me._

_Jaune is… not exactly well. He’s hurting, grieving. He carries one of Pyrrha’s circlets with him all the time. Says it helps him but I’m not sure if it's not actually hurting him even more instead of helping. But I’m not the one to talk to him about that, maybe I’ll ask Ren about it._

_Ren and Nora are… closer. You can see that they spend most of their life together, they know how to lean on each other In time of need._

_We’ve been in this town now for 2 days, we’ll probably stay one or two more to make sure the area surrounding the town is clear of grimm. We’ve been killing grimm and helping with repairs and so on in exchange for Lien and supplies. I would never have imagined how hard it is to stock up on ammunition out here in the wild before! I mean, the villages need the ammo themselves, and only can spare so much… but still… all things considered, it’s been going well so far._

_I promise that I’ll write you as soon as we reach the next village though I have no idea when this will be._

_I hope to see you again one day_

_Love always_

_Ruby Rose_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this took longer than Intended. but well... after finishing the first story, my inspiration hit a dry spell, there is a (super important) exam in 2 weeks and my grandmother almost died last week... life has been a bit busy :D
> 
> But now I'm back. I'll try to update every 1-2 Weeks but I can't promise anything, I have a ton of exams this semester and Uni is just more important than hobbies... (and if I pass all of them I basically have my bachelors degree so... yeah... kind of important)
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I'll see you in about two weeks :)


	2. So I will tell you this secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby yawns and sits up. “I’m awake, I’m awake.” She rubs her eyes, shivering as the cold air hits the skin of her hand. “what’s for breakfast?” she asks while slowly crawling out of her sleeping bag. It had been so warm in there and all she wants to do is to crawl back in and sleep for a few more hours but if they want to stay on schedule they have to leave soon. The days are still short and so they have to use every hour of daylight they can get.
> 
> Ren looks up at her from where he’s stirring something in their pot over the campfire “what’s left from last nights rabbit stew. It’s not much but it’s hot”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, that took way longer than intended! Life kind of got in the way...
> 
> Also: TW for a non-graphic killing of an animal for food (don't know if that need a trigger warning but just to be on the safe side...)
> 
> As always, if you find spelling/grammar mistakes just tell me :)  
> Have fun :)

_My Dear Weiss,_

_I hope you are well. I am as well as I can be right now. So much has happened since the last time I wrote you…_

 

“Ruby, come on, wake up its morning!” a voice says right next to her ear while a hand shakes her shoulder. Ruby tries to turn away but the person holding her shoulder seems to be insisting on her waking up.

“come on sleepy head! It’s getting light outside! Which is coincidentally also inside because we are sleeping in the woods. Doesn’t matter anyway because we need to get up and get going! Ren is already making breakfast and Jaune started to break down camp and then left. Only you are missing. We let you sleep in a bit because you seemed so exhausted when I took over watch but unless you want me to eat your share of food you really need to get going.”

Now, those are way too many words for the ungodly early hour… and if Ruby hadn’t already recognized the person speaking as Nora by her voice, she would have done so by the sheer amount of words. Out of the four of them, only Nora is able to ramble at the crack of dawn.

Ruby yawns and sits up. “I’m awake, I’m awake.” She rubs her eyes, shivering as the cold air hits the skin of her hand. “what’s for breakfast?” she asks while slowly crawling out of her sleeping bag. It had been so warm in there and all she wants to do is to crawl back in and sleep for a few more hours but if they want to stay on schedule they have to leave soon. The days are still short and so they have to use every hour of daylight they can get.

Ren looks up at her from where he’s stirring something in their pot over the campfire “what’s left from last nights rabbit stew. It’s not much but it’s hot”

Ruby rolls up her sleeping bag and then proceeds to stuff it into her backpack. “where is Jaune” she asks Ren while running a washcloth dampened with melted snow over her face. It’s freezing cold but it makes her feel less dirty. One more downside to camping in the wilderness in the middle of winter is that bathing or taking a shower isn’t really an option. Plus they sleep in their day clothes, always ready for the next battle. Of course, they all try their best to keep up basic hygiene but most times it’s just too cold to disrobe and wash completely. Today washing hands and face will have to do.

“Jaune went off half an hour ago to do his training. I send Nora after him.” Ren says, still stirring the pot. Then he holds out his hand to Ruby. She digs out her steel bowl out of her backpack and hands it to him. When he gives it back to her, it’s warm and filled with meaty savory goodness. They had used the last carrot and the last of the tomato paste last night. From here on it’ll be meat only until they get to the next town. But it’s worth it.

“thanks” Ruby murmurs and tips the bowl to sip at the liquid inside. She doesn’t feel like searching for her spoon right now.

“you didn’t sleep well tonight,” Ren says while filling up his own bowl, and it’s clearly not meant as a question

Ruby doesn’t really know how to answer that so she only nods. It’s true. She didn’t. too much on her mind to easily fall asleep. And then when she slept nightmares of Cinder and Pyrrha and Penny.

Ren is a good listener, maybe she can tell him about her worries. It’s not as if she doesn’t trust Nora or Jaune but out of the four of them, Ren is the most grown up, the most mature and level-headed. She has to tell someone. Eventually.

And right now Ren is looking at her as if he knows something. Or at the least suspects something.

So maybe…

Her train of thought is cut short by an enthusiastic “we’re baaaaack!” coming from her left. She looks to her side to see Nora tailed by Jaune. They too sit down at the campfire, helping themselves to the food.

Maybe later she’ll tell someone.

If not about her nightmares and sometimes crippling feeling of guilt, then about the silver-eyed thing… they deserve to know about at least that aspect of her life.

Ruby quickly finishes her meal and goes to clean her bowl with some clean snow, they need to get going if they want to make some progress today.

 

 

It’s one of those times where they stumble upon an abandoned building come nightfall.

An old farm. The barn is partly burned down but the two storied farmhouse itself is still standing and looks solid enough that they can use it for shelter for the night.

She and Jaune go out to hunt for dinner. They find a small deer and Ruby kills it with a single shot.

Killing animals will never bee fun to Ruby, but she knows that they need the food, and they need it desperately. They’ll rost the deer over a fire and the meat will last them for not only tonight but for tomorrow as well and maybe even the day after that. One less thing to worry about for at least a few days.

They carry it back to the house.

Nora has fixed the old kitchen door, and Ren has gotten the fireplace going and since the windows in the kitchen are still mostly intact, with only one glass pane missing (which someone, probably Nora has replaced with a piece of scrap wood with looks suspiciously like an old kitchen cabinet door), it’s nice and warm, or at least getting there.

They melt snow for water over the fire an boil it just to make sure it’s safe to drink. Ruby and Nora rollout the sleeping bags and then go out to gather some more wood while the boys prepare the deer for consumption outside in the yard, tainting the snow red with the animal's blood. They are quite good at it. “My grandma is a butcher” Jaune has said when she had asked him a few weeks ago “she taught me a thing or two. And Ren is a quick student” after that it had been decided that the butchering would be their task.

After they are done they roast the meat over the open fireplace using sticks and an old pan Nora had found in the kitchen and Ruby had scrubbed clean using snow and some of the boiled water.

Ruby is thankful for the fact that they still have enough salt, oil, and pepper to season their food.

They sit on the floor eating the roasted meat with their fingers hungrily and content for now. They have a relatively safe place for the night and enough meat to last another day.

Ruby looks at her makeshift team, at her friends, looks at the roaring fireplace, at the room they will spend the night in. They are safe, their bellies are filled with fresh and warm meat and they are warm for the first time in days. And it’s at that moment that Ruby realizes that if she doesn’t tell them about her powers right now, it will be too late for it.

She wipes her hands clean on a piece of cloth, lays them down in her lap and exhales deeply, gathering the courage required for this task.

It’s Nora who notices the change of atmosphere first. She looks up at Ruby, still munching on a piece of meat and asks mouth half full, “you ok There Ruby?”

At that Ren and Jaune also look up from their food and at Ruby.

“Ruby? Everything ok?” asks Jaune when Ruby doesn’t answer.

 

Ruby bites her upper lip nervously “actually… there is something I need to tell you but I don’t exactly know how. There is this thing that I can do; or well am supposed to be able to do.” She stops and looks at the faces of her friends. At the quiet concern in their eyes and takes a deep breath. She is safe here, she can tell them. And so she does. It takes a while to explain.

She tells them about her dreams, about the protection from her mother turned curse, tells them about prophecies and a grim future, about a role she’s supposed to play. And after all this is done, she tells them about Penny, about how she knew that Penny was not quite human although very much a person, and she tells them about what happened the night Beacon fell. Tells them about strange headaches, about Pyrrha being killed by cinder, about a seal breaking and the silver light following it.

At some point, she starts to cry, and at some point, Nora shuffles closer to her and takes her hand to comfort her, they all shuffle closer to her.

And when all is said, when the story is told in its entirety, Ruby looks up at her friends, sees the sympathy in their eyes.

“I’m sorry” she whispers into the heavy silence filled with only the crackling of the fire “I should have told you sooner. I just didn’t know how”

Jaune gifts her with a small smile “it’s ok, we all carry things with us we rather not talk about. Yours is just a bit bigger than most”

Ruby smiles in return.

 

_…they took it better than I thought they would. I know that if you where here you would roll your eyes, in fact, I bet that you are rolling your eyes right now._

_Oh how I miss you! I’ve gotten closer to Nora, Ren, and Jaune, telling them about my dreams and everything that comes with it only helped there. They understand now why I sometimes fall quiet for no reason and why my sleep schedule is erratic at best._

_Anyway, two days after that we finally reached the village we are in now. Not long now and well reach the eastern coast of Saunus! I’ve always wanted to go there, just not like this. It was supposed to be a vacation with my dad and Yang, or with you and Blake and Yang!_

_But I guess we can’t always get what we want can we? If we could you would be here right now._

_As always_

_Love Ruby <3_

 

~~Weiss hugs the letter to her chest and then carefully places it on her bedside table. Happy in knowing that the girl she loves is still out there somewhere~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I didn't think it would take that long for me to update. on the good side, I have the story completely fleshed out now and know what I want to do with it. 
> 
> Also, did you know that a victory that feels more like a defeat is called a "pyrrhic victory"? just a fun (or sad) fact for you :D
> 
> I'll try to update as soon as I'm able to. (which might take 2 weeks, I have another exam coming up)
> 
> :)


	3. Time slipping through your fingertips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t have time!” she sits up again and begins to rip out blades of red grass “I am responsible for my team’s safety! If something happens and I can’t protect them, then what good am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again this took longer than I thought it would, sorry for that!  
> As always: if you find grammar/spelling mistakes don't hesitate to tell me :)

_Hey Yang,_

_I hope you’re doing better. I’m sorry for the way I left you and dad, but I had to. Staying in Vale, staying and not doing anything, not helping anyone was just not something I could do any longer! I know I should not have left without a proper goodbye, but I know dad would never have let me leave! He still sees me as his little girl, but that’s not who I am anymore._

_In any case… I’m fine! So are Jaune, Ren, and Nora. We just arrived in Typha, on the east coast of Saunus. Next, we want to find someone who will get us to Anima._

_Anyway, I just wanted to give you a quick update on how things are. Please don’t worry about me! I can hold my own, just focus on getting better. That’s all you should do right now._

_Love you and dad_

_Your sister Ruby_

_P.S. I really hope you’ve read Blakes letter by now!_

 

 

It takes them longer than planned to reach the coast. Too long to Ruby’s liking. They had estimated that it would take them around one week to get there, two at max. In the end, it takes them almost a month.

Ruby looks out at the sea, the glittering green-blue water, ice-cold waves, the beach is frozen, and ice crystals crunch under her boots. Behind her the town of Typha. A slightly bigger town, one of the few settlements that are still left over from Vales settlement program from before the great war. Burned down and mostly destroyed back then but rebuild in the end by the settlers that returned once the fighting was over. It doesn’t have the strong natural defense that Vale has, but it has a good number of trained warriors and professional huntsman and a high and thick town wall. Because of that, it can hold its own against most grim attacks. It’s a quiet but flourishing town, thanks to its location at the coast making trade a possible source of income.

They arrived only hours ago and found temporary accommodation at an inn. Tomorrow they plan to contact the local guild of huntsman, they hope to take up a few jobs in the area to earn enough money for the trip to Anima. And maybe someone there will be able to provide a more affordable accommodation.

Ruby wraps her cloak tighter around herself. It’s getting warmer, but the chilled sea breeze still makes her shiver. It was late November when she left Patch, it’s mid-February now. Not long now and the first leaves will sprout followed by flowers and warmer days, rain instead of snow. Then camping in the woods will not be that much of a burden. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are behind schedule.

It’s just that the last village on their way here had been plagued by grim and leaving before the thread had been dealt with had just not been an option for any of them. And while they may still be in training, they are Huntsman, all of them, to the core and with all their hearts. Leaving civilians in danger had never been something that came to their minds.

Ruby turns away from the ocean, the sun is setting behind rows and rows of houses. It’s time to get back to the others. She had left them back at the inn to be alone for a bit. Wander around the streets of this seaside town, to be alone for a little while, to drink in the sight of civilization and to clear her head.

They had made it. The first big milestone on their journey. And they are still alive and mostly well.

A strong breeze blows her hood from her head. Ruby shivers, it’s time to head back to the others.

 

When she walks back into their shared room at the inn, Nora is standing with her back to her, facing Jaune and Ren, weapon strapped to her back and coat in her hand

“I still think that we should go look for her. I know that she can probably handle most things that get thrown at her but that doesn’t mean she should have to and while Ruby did say that she would go out for a short walk to clear her head, it has been two hours and I’m getting really worried!”

She turns around only to see Ruby standing in the doorway and freezes for a moment.

Nora doesn’t tackle her but it’s a close thing. She wraps Ruby in a quick hug and then stands there, almost vibrating with tension.

“I’m sorry,” Ruby says sheepishly “I didn’t mean to take so long… I just lost track of time.”

Ren smiles weakly at her “it’s ok, we just were worried”

Ruby looks over at Jaune who’s sitting on the windowsill carefully sharpening his sword, he looks up from his task “just because we’re in a safe place right now doesn’t mean that we can let down our guard.”

“I know that! I just” Ruby struggles for words for a moment “I just needed some time for myself. I can look after myself! You know I’m not helpless. I’m sorry for worrying you, I didn’t want that, but I just had to… not be around people for a bit.”

Jaune, Ren, and Nora look at each other for a moment and then Jaune lays his sword down on the floor and says “Ruby, look, while you were out, we were able to catch up on some news since the local comm system is still up. Beacons attackers are still nowhere to be found and with what you told us about your power and role in well…” he pauses for a second “defending Beacon, we think that that might have painted a target on your back.”

Ruby bites her lips uncomfortably: “you know that I can take care of myself”

“We know that,” says Nora, laying a comforting had on Ruby’s shoulder “but we just lost a friend, please don’t make us lose another”

At that Ruby deflates even more “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. But you have to promise me that you look after yourself too! We protect each other, it’s not a one-sided thing!”

“We will don't worry. And we are probably just overreacting” Jaune says, getting up and walking over to her side “we're all just a bit paranoid. Just promise us that you’ll be more careful in the future”

A small smile graces his face, it’s a real smile and not forced. Most of Jaune's smiles are forced these days and so Ruby breathes a sigh of relieve at the sight of it “I promise”.

“Come on,” Ren says after a short moment of silence, getting up from where he was sitting on the foot of his bed “let’s go downstairs, I think it’s time for dinner”

 

 

_Dear Blake,_

_I hope you’ve made your way to Menagerie by now. If not, then I hope you do so soon._

_In case you haven’t gotten my other letters, I’m currently on my way to Haven academy with Jaune, Nora, and Ren._

_I hope you are alive and in good health. My dad told me that you were stabbed during the fall of Beacon and I really hope you’ve healed well and are not in any pain._

_I miss having you and Yang and Weiss around. Don’t get me wrong, I like traveling with Nora, Ren, and Jaune but they are not the three of you._

_Well anyways… we finally made it to the east coast of Saunus. The Town we are currently staying in is named Typha. We’ll stay here for a few days, maybe a week for some small missions around the area and to find someone who’ll get us to Anima. After that, all we’ll have left to do is to get to Haven Academy. I don’t know but maybe you can meet up with us there? I know you said that you need time, and I respect that but team RWBY will never be complete without you. So I hope you will come back to us one day._

_Until then take care and be careful._

_Lots of love_

_Ruby Rose_

_P.S. In case Blakes parents are reading this: My name is Ruby Rose and I was Blakes team leader at Beacon._

 

 

“It won’t work!” Ruby exclaims while he throws herself on her back and stares at the black sky. Frustration running high Tonight “I just can’t do it. No matter how often I try it just slips through my fingers like loose sand or water.”

Iolith looks at her judgingly “don’t give up yet silver child! It takes time to learn taking hold of your power”

“I don’t have time!” she sits up again and begins to rip out blades of red grass “I am responsible for my team’s safety! If something happens and I can’t protect them, then what good am I?”

“Ruby… this isn’t something you learn quickly. It takes years. I know you know that.”

Ruby looks up, into her mentor’s eyes and says quietly, “I have to get stronger! I have to protect them” and the next words are pleading “please show me how to get stronger because nothing I tried is fast enough!”

Iolith sighs and then examines her for a moment “maybe," he says slowly, "there is another way to make you stronger. Don’t worry you won’t have to abandon your studies, but why not focus on strengthening and improving your semblance and aura for now?”

Ruby looks down at her hands “but I already have a pretty good handle on that”

“possibly, but pretty good doesn’t mean that you’ve mastered it, right?" the King reaches out his hands, palms up and smiles encouraging at her “come on, give me your hands, maybe I can teach you a thing or two about semblance that you don’t know yet”

Ruby hesitates for a moment but then does as instructed.

“ok, close your eyes and feel for your semblance”

“why?”

“that way I’ll be able to get a feeling for your semblance. I know that everyone knows their own semblance best, but sometimes a second pair of fresh eyes doesn’t hurt. Maybe I have some ideas on how you can improve your usage, maybe I know a few techniques that will help you. Come on, silver child. Trust me” he smiles at her. Ruby takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

 

It’s been years since her father had taken her aside and unlocked her aura. She remembers it clearly. Yang had just begun training with him and Ruby had been so curious and eager to learn that she sat on the sidelines and watched them train together. Her father had tried to keep her away, afraid that Yang might accidentally hurt her. But since Ruby couldn’t be deterred from watching, he had given in and unlocked her aura to give her at least some form of protection.

She remembers the feeling of something reaching out, grabbing hold of this warm spot deep inside of her that she had never noticed before, twisting it and the sudden warm rush all over her body as it unlocked and spread outwards

“there you go Rosebud” her father had said and gently padded her head

 

This feels a bit like it, just not quite. Instead of unlocking it feels as if this something just takes a good look around as if trying to get to know its surroundings.

After some time, she feels it pulling back, then Iolith lets go of her hands and Ruby opens her eyes.

The King smiles gently at her and says, “like I thought, there is still so much unused potential!”

“what do you mean?”

“Ruby, all you’ve used your ability to literally change the material you’re made of so far was to dash forward. Always only in one direction. You turn into rose petals when you move quickly, but maybe you can do so as well when you’re moving slowly, maybe you’re able to use it to confuse an enemy, and maybe you are even able to change direction while in that state. Don’t limit yourself to just one thing!”

“you think I could... you think I could do that?” Ruby examines the tips of her fingers, thinks of the feeling of weightlessness every time she uses her semblance and then looks up into Ioliths eyes

“I do.”

“how?”

“there are a few old techniques, old training methods from my time to strengthen aura and semblance. Since you seem to struggle with using your semblance for long periods at a time, why not concentrate on that first.” He smiles and Ruby nods

“ok, let’s try it”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry... but better late then never I guess? Uni just kind of keeps destroying my free time.  
> anyways I hope you liked this. No letter to Weiss this time, but I thought since Ruby's also writing letters to the rest of her teammates, it's time to show what she writes.  
> Otherwise, this chapter is mostly buildup for the next two chapters where shit will go down. You have been warned.


	4. Yesterdays Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby really hopes that what she heard about Anima is true, that the climate across the ocean really is milder. Sometimes she feels like she hasn’t seen the sun in weeks. Maybe she hasn’t, Ruby’s not so sure anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, first I am really sorry that this took so long! believe me that really wasn't my intention at all. It's just that Uni kind of well took over basically everything and then my inspiration for writing RWBY kind of temporarily dried up. But now I'm back! and I'll try to make another update by the end of the month.
> 
> As always if you find spelling/grammar mistakes don't hesitate to tell me. :)

“There you go kids, scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon for all of you,” the innkeeper a friendly elder lady says as she hands them their plates, “I’ve got to say, you’re quite a welcome change, not many people visit at this time of year!”

Jaune smiles at her stiffly “well we’re not exactly on holiday”

Their host laughs “oh I know, I know…” she grows quiet for a moment and watches them eat.

Ruby munches on her scrambled eggs deeply lost in her thoughts. She’s tried. She might have had a good nights rest but her all the aura/semblance training in her sleep made her feel a little sore as if she had pulled a muscle. Only that the muscle is not a muscle but her aura and thus affects her entire body and not just some part of it.

“So, what do you kids plan on doing today?”

Ruby looks up from her food “we were planning on going to the local huntsman guild, maybe pick up a few jobs and share information”

“Oh dear! Aren’t you a bit young to get into such trouble?”

The group shared a look. Ren cleared his voice “well Miss, we might be young, but we are all perfectly capable huntsman in our own right.”

The woman looks at them with pity and sighs “oh they’re getting younger each year” and then leaves their table to attend to the other guests.

“Well, that was encouraging” Jaune mutters and takes a swig of his coffee.

Ruby stares into her own mug “she wasn’t entirely wrong. I still have no real idea for why Ozpin let me into the academy early. I mean I can guess why but I have the feeling there is more to it.” She mumbles only loud enough for her teammates to hear.

On the other side of the table Ren and Nora look at each other briefly and then Nora reaches over to briefly pat her hand “you might be younger but that doesn’t make you any less capable.”

Ruby only shrugs in reply and goes back to munching on her scrambled eggs.

The rest of the meal is spent in silence.

 

The air is cold, a stiff breeze making it only worse as they leave the inn. Ruby pulls the cloak tighter around her small frame.

“Where is the local guild again?” she asks. Her teeth are not clattering just yet but it’s kind of a close thing.

“Two streets down, take a left and then the 7th house on the right. At least the man at the reception said so yesterday” Jaune responds, him too wrapped into his winter coat. Ruby really hopes that what she heard about Anima is true, that the climate across the ocean really is milder. Sometimes she feels like she hasn’t seen the sun in weeks. Maybe she hasn’t, Ruby’s not so sure anymore. When you’re on the road, fighting to survive almost every day and in between walking for miles and hours every day defending settlements, time tends to blur together into one big mass.

She is silent on their way to the guild, they all are.

 

The guild’s building is huge, the ground floor made of stone, the two upper floors half-timbered. It is clearly an old building. The door is more like a gate, old and wooden, worn. An indicator for how long it has been standing, for how long the people running have been able to defend it. In short, an indicator of the level of skill required.

They look at each other for a moment and then Jaune nods his head towards Ruby, wordlessly encouraging her to knock on the door.

Without a word, Ruby steps forward and knocks perhaps a little harder than intended on the heavy wood.

It echoes.

After a minute the door opens a few inches, a tall man peers through the gap. His hair is white, there is an old scar running from his left temple to the corner of his mouth, his hand rests defensively on the holster of his weapon. He gives them one long look, eying them up and down.

“What do you want!” he says, his voice is rough and his tone harsh. Not at all inviting.

“Hello Sir, my name is Ruby, and this is my team, we are passing through this town and wanted to ask if you have any jobs for us. Can we come in?”

The man eyes them up and down, judges them one by one and then his eyes return to Ruby “look, kids, this work is nothing for a ragtag team of teenagers, go to school and then come back.”

“Excuse me?” Ruby stares at the man in front of her with slight disbelieve. First the Waitress in the inn and now this. The people here can’t be serious, can they? Just because they are young doesn’t mean that they are incompetent, that they are inexperienced! Even before beacon Ruby had been able to kill a horde of Beowulf, the rest of her team fought and killed many, many grim in the attack on Beacon and in the weeks since. This? This is honestly insulting!

“You heard me right kid, go home, this is no job for you. At least not yet” he begins to close the door but Ruby kind of had enough. Her patience is worn thin from a night of restless sleep and aura training, the Innkeepers offhanded comment and now this. If she wants to get talked down on and lectured by people older than her all she must do is go to sleep and dream. this is just a bit too much.

Ruby steps forward, putting a foot in-between door and doorframe, she straightens her back and stares the man right in the eyes “I don’t think you heard what I said. My name is Ruby, this is my team. We are on our way from Beacon to Haven academy to investigate the attack on Beacon academy, we are currently passing through his town and are looking for a few jobs to help us be able to pay for the passage to anima. Can we come in.”

The man opens the door back up, still eying them a bit suspicious and then his eyes fall on Ruby’s emblem, fall on the rose clipped to her belt. Then back up to her eyes and once again down to the emblem. Shock replacing suspicion. He looks her in the eye and asks, “what is your name?”

Ruby blinks a bit surprised at the turn of events “Uh... Ruby, Ruby Rose. Why?”

The man’s eyes widen further, again he glances at the emblem on her belt “do you by any chance know a Summer Rose?”

“Yes,” Ruby says “she was my mother”

Her words seem to ripple through the man a bit like a shock because he doesn’t say anything for a moment.

Behind her Ruby hears Nora murmur “why is this important right now?” it’s probably directed and Ren or Jaune, but she can’t help but wonder the exact same thing.

“I knew her, and her team. Good fighters the four of them!” he says almost wistfully “If you are anything like your mother then… well, I guess come in, come in all four of you!”

The team shares a brief look and then follows the man’s invitation, still unsure of what exactly to make of his sudden change of mind.

Warm air hits them almost like a blanket, vessels with fire dust line a hallway with multiple doors on both sides. The man closes the door and turns to them “my name is Haager Sturkvist, sorry for trying to send you four away at first, you look young and we sometimes get overeager kids who want to prove themselves but have no real experience.” Come, follow me, Anais will be happy to meet you, she was a friend of Summer when they both went to Beacon Academy.”

The room they enter is warm and bright, walls painted yellow, potted plants on the windowsills and on the floor, cabinets line the walls, a corkboard hangs on the wall next to a giant map of Remnant, a desk stands in the middle of the room filled with neat stacks of paper and a terminal, a Woman with long brown hair and a kind face sits behind it in a wheelchair. This must be Anais, Ruby thinks.

 

“Hey Anais, the four are huntsman making stop here on their way to Mistral, can you handle it?”

Anais looks up from her paperwork and looks them over once, then turns to Haager “they look young, you checked that they are who they say they are?”

“Pretty sure they are. That one” he jerks his head towards Ruby “is Summer’s daughter”

“Oh!” Anais’s face brightens immediately, she moves back from the desk and rolls towards the group, towards Ruby “oh dear, you look just like her! Even your eye color! Ruby, right?” Ruby nods and Anais turns to the rest of the group “and who might you three be? Haager you can go, I will handle our guests”

The old Huntsman nods and leaves the room, Anais smiles at the group and nods towards a sofa in the back of the room “come on, sit down! And please tell me who you are!”

 

 

_My dearest Weiss_

_We are still in Typha though not for much longer. our departure is scheduled for two days from now. There is so much to tell you! So much that happened in the past two days!_

_The day after our arrival here we went to the local huntsman guild and met Haager Sturkvist and Anais Maraun both huntsmen, well Anais is a former huntress who got injured during a fight and now works as the secretary of the guild. Both are really great! Haager is more of a… I think you would call it an acquired taste but he’s really cool once you get to know him a bit better._

_They kind of run the huntsman guild and were really helpful! We were able to sleep in the guilds guestrooms and they got us a few smaller missions. Just small stuff, a few hordes of Beowulf and a few Ursa nothing big but we still got the lien for our work. Oh, and through Anais, we were able to acquire transportation to Anima! Her big sister Olivia owns a cargo ship flying supplies back and forth between Saunus and Anima. Her next supply run is in two days and she’s willing to take us with her as a favor for her sister and also as extra protection against grimm._

_Anais knew my mother! They went to beacon together._

_It’s been nice staying here, to rest a bit._

_I hope it will all go well. I hope we reach Anima, I hope nothing bad happens and I hope I will be able to write to you again, to see you again but you never know._

_In case I don’t… I just wanted to tell you that I love you._

_I hope with all my heart to see you again._

_Always Yours_

_Ruby Rose_

~~Many miles and hours away up in Atlas in her room Weiss presses her lips to Ruby’s letter, looks out her window and cries.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lately I figured out that I kind of have a knack for writing kind of angsty kind of fluffy stuff. So be prepared :D
> 
> Again sorry for taking so long! I have not abandoned this project and I don't plan to!


	5. And the sky is falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their journey is supposed to take a bit more than a day. They’ve left Friday morning and are supposed to arrive late in the afternoon on Saturday.
> 
> They take turns watching out for Grimm so that everyone can have enough sleep without leaving the ship defenseless.
> 
> Ruby falls asleep on the floor in the cargo bay using crescent rose as a pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo... once again I'm behind schedule... sorry. I have no other excuse than the fact that I hid a roadblock in the middle of this chapter and it took me two weeks and a con (where I cosplayed Summer Rose and met up with other RWBY fans) for the writer's block to dissolve. Now I'm back. I can't promise anything regarding future updates because I'll be really busy with uni in the coming weeks. But I will not abandon this fic.  
> At least this chapter is long. (no really it's like 7 pages in word. it's LONG!) 
> 
> As always if you find spelling/grammar mistakes just tell me, I promise I won't bite

“Well done Rose!” Haager says, resting his weight on his weapon, breathing hard. They’re in the guilds training hall sparring the rest of her team is watching from the sidelines

“You definitely have your mother’s agility! A few more years of practice and you might be able to surpass her.”

Ruby smiles up at the man “thank you, it was a pleasure to spar with you. Your weapon really is amazing when seen in motion!”

“Are you fascinated by all kinds of weapons or is it just Knolpakblad?” he says picking up his battle ax and attaching it back on his belt.

“Ruby is fascinated by all weapons” Nora throws in from her seat in the corner “it’s an obsession”

“Well, weapons are cool! They are a part of yourself, a part of your personality. Meeting new weapons is like meeting new people.” Ruby says. She’s not pouting but it’s kind of a close thing.

Haager laughs full bellied and deep “well young Rose, you are not wrong there! It’s just like the way every huntsman has their very own fighting style. The way a Huntsman or huntress fights and the weapons they choose to fight with reveals parts of their personality.” The older Huntsman walks over to the side and picks up a water bottle, taking a large swig.

“You’re leaving tomorrow morning, right? It was really great having you here! Wouldn’t mind having you here a bit longer, we could use more people like you. Young with ambition a quick wit and able to quickly bounce back after a hard day of fighting.”

“Thank you, sir, but we need to move on,” Jaune says, he gets up from his seat on the floor and walks over to Ruby who is still in the middle of the room and leaning heavily against Crescent rose to hand her, her own bottle of water.

She accepts it with a quiet thanks and quickly downs half of it “yes,” she says once she lifts the bottle from her lips “we really need to get to haven academy. The trail of Beacon's attackers leads back to mistral and the school.”

“Yes, yes. The attack on Beacon. Horrible thing that happened there. Heard one of your classmates lost her life, right? Horrible dying so young but at least she died the death of a Huntsman on the battlefield with her weapon in hand.” Haager says sounding wistful and almost proud.

Ruby looks over at Jaune just in time to see him clenching his teeth and balling his hands. the nails of his fingers digging into the flesh of his palms.

“I’ll go pack my stuff,” he says quickly, voice suspiciously void of emotions and then makes a beeline to the door.

Ruby watches him leave, her face filled with worry and then looks over to the rest of her team “Do you think…?”

“Probably” Ren shakes his head “though I think he needs to be alone for a bit”

“Did I say something wrong?” Haager says, his face clearly showing his confusion

Ruby looks at the older huntsman and smiles sadly “the student who died, her name was Pyrrha Nikos. And she was our friend and Jaune's partner.”

The older man’s eyes widen “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

“We know, it’s just…” Ruby tails off, looks at her friends and sees Nora shuffling just that little bit closer to Ren, that small shift in her stance, the way they both lean into each others space in search for silent comfort “you two ok?”

“Yes, but I think it’s better if we head out a bit to get some more supplies,” Ren says voice carefully calm.

Ruby nods “ok, you do that, I’ll go look after Jaune.” Ren nods and pulls Nora out of the room.

As she herself turns to leave Haager lays a hand on her shoulder to stop her

“Look, I’m sorry if I struck a nerve or something, I really didn’t know”

“I know,” Ruby says and regards him with a sad smile “I don’t think anyone is mad or anything it’s just… you were right. You were right when you said that we’re still really young. I’m 16, Nora, Ren, and Jaune are 18. We are young and yes in some parts inexperienced but all of us had to go through trauma and hardship to get here. Pyrrha’s death hit us heard but she wasn’t the only one we lost that day. I guess what I want to say is that… that being thrown into a war kind of forces to grow up really fast.”

The huntsman huffs a breath “yes, I understand that”

“I’ll go look after my friend now if that’s ok with you”

Haager nods and Ruby leaves the room.

 

 

The dorm room they’ve been staying in is long and rectangular and beds line the walls left and right of the door. It’s meant for traveling huntsmen and as emergency quarters in case of an attack. Jaune’s sitting on his bed at the far side of the room, his back facing the door.

He doesn’t look up when Ruby steps into the room, doesn’t react as she closes the door, doesn’t move while she walks over and sits down on her own bed located next to his.

It’s only when Ruby speaks that he lifts his head “do you need to talk?”

“I probably should.”

“Do you want to?”

Jaune hesitates for a moment “no, not really.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

The young huntsman moves to turn towards her, sitting now sideways on the bed “no I don’t think so.”

Ruby shrugs “ok, I’ll just pack my own stuff it that’s ok?”

Jaune doesn’t answer, he only moves back to stare at the wall again.

After a while of Jaune not saying a word and Ruby quietly packing her belongings Jaune says in a small voice “how do you deal with all the death?”

Ruby stops sorting through her munition supply and looks up, trying to think of an answer only to find that she has no real idea how or even _if_ she deals with all of it.

“I have no idea. I mean I have a massive amount of people in my head and in my dreams that are all technically dead including my mother so… I think I just try to keep moving forward. Try not to think too much about everything. Not sure if that is the healthiest approach to all of that but it worked so far.”

Jaune doesn’t say anything in response but he moves from staring blankly ahead to slowly packing his stuff so Ruby still counts it as a win. He stays quiet though, even when Ren and Nora return with bread, dried meat and fruit and a few cans of vegetables. Doesn’t say anything when they move to pack their own bags.

The only thing he says that evening is a quiet “good night” before laying down to sleep.

Ruby still can’t help but worry.

 

The morning air is – as expected – cold and freezing they say goodbye to Anais and Haager and meet up with Olivia at the town’s airfield. Olivia, a stocky, small woman with black hair and a broad smile. On her hip, she carries a pistol and a knife. Somehow Ruby immediately has to think of warmth the first moment she sees her. She greets them and ushers them in with a “come on kids, we haven’t got all day!”

They store most of their supplies down in the cargo bay and only keep their weapons on them.

Ruby follows Olivia up to the bridge and half an hour later they’re off.

 

“So…” their pilot starts, “my sister told me you’re on your way to haven.”

Ruby looks up from her seat on the floor. Olivia’s sitting in the pilot’s seat, Ruby along the left outer wall of the bridge. Ren is on lookout on the left, Nora on the right side of the ship and Jaune’s watching their back, all looking for grimm that might want to attack them.

Ruby can recognize Smalltalk when she sees it, she also hates it and is horrible at it, but she can also recognize a desperate attempt at breaking the silence when she sees one.

“Yes, thank you for taking us with you to anima”

Olivia laughs “oh no problem. I usually can handle these trips myself, I might not be a Huntress but I’m not exactly a pushover either you know, but it doesn’t hurt to have a bit extra muscle on board since the Grimm are getting stronger”

Ruby smiles “yes, it definitely doesn’t hurt”

“You certainly seem to be on high alert”

“Yes, you said it yourself, the grimm are getting stronger and we’ve been traveling for a few months now and have been attacked by grim multiple times during that time.”

“Anais told me you fought during the fall of Beacon, that you lost friends in the fight. It must have been hard. I’ve seen what that sort of loss did to my sister. I’m sorry that you had to go through something like that at such a young age”

“I… thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. A horrible thing happened to you and your team, you shouldn’t have to thank me for having common sense and acknowledging it”

Ruby smiles lopsided and a bit insecure but says nothing else, Olivia seems like someone she really can trust.

 

Their journey is supposed to take a bit more than a day. They’ve left Friday morning and are supposed to arrive late in the afternoon on Saturday.

They take turns watching out for Grimm so that everyone can have enough sleep without leaving the ship defenseless.

Ruby falls asleep on the floor in the cargo bay using crescent rose as a pillow.

 

It doesn’t take long for her to find herself standing on red grass, surrounded by white trees and under a black sky. A few feet in front of her the white hood of her mother clearly visible.

Summer turns around, panic clear in her eyes “Ruby! Ruby, you need to run!”

Ruby feels as if her heart has stopped, all the memories of pain flood her, she hoped this had been over, the seal had been broken, the curse that bound the two of them to anger loneliness and fear, lifted. So why…

“Ruby, please listen to me, they are coming, you need to run, you need to wake up and fight!” her mother begs “wake up and fight for your life! Grimm are coming!”

Something in Ruby loosens, something in her realizes that this is not her mother begging her to run away from destiny but her mother warning her about an incoming immediate thread

She forces a smile and whispers “ok”

The world around them dissolves and Ruby wakes up with a start

The cargo bay is empty, and she quickly runs to grab extra ammunition, fixing it to her belt to have it ready at a moment’s notice, the left-over panic caused by the dream filling her with adrenalin and somehow clearing her mind. She must be quick now, the only thing Ruby knows is that there is an incoming grim attack, she has no idea when and how, but it is coming.

Ruby runs up the latter to the bridge, finding her team tiredly looking out of the windows and Olivia flying the ship with confidence. The sun is slowly setting, filling the sky with a gentle orange glow.

“We’re under attack, Grimm are coming. We need to get ready now!” she says the moment she steps into the room

“What?” Jaune asks getting up from his seat “did you see them?”

“No, I was asleep, and I had one of my dreams and my mother warned me that we are in danger and that we have to get up and fight”

Olivia turns around in her seat, shoulders tense “we are not far from the shoreline, maybe we’ll be able to outrun them, land and then fight them once we’re on the ground. A battle on land is always better than one in the air”

Jaune nods “good idea, this high up in the air it’s probably a nevermore or two. Maybe a swarm If we’re unlucky.”

“Olivia, is there any way for us to get outside the ship? Maybe even on top of it?”

Olivia nods and then points to a compartment underneath the left side of the controls “in there’s a harness with two hooks that attach to rings on the hull of the ship that you can wear. It’s usually used for repair work on the ground, but it should do.”

Ruby thinks for a second, hesitating “I’ll go. You Nora you take the back, we have to open the cargo bay, Ren you stay near the ceiling hatch in case I need help, and Jaune”

“Stay with Olivia, protect her and help strategize. Got it”

 

It’s a blur of motion after that, Ren helps Ruby put on the harness while Olivia sinks towards a lower altitude so that in case of a crash, they won’t fall too far. Somewhere in the back of Ruby’s mind something tells her that that might be it. That they might crash, that they might not survive the crash, that this is really serious. And somewhere even farther back in her mind she thanks the gods that Jaune has a good and working landing strategy by now.

Ruby’s just about to climb the steps of the ladder leading up to the roof when a loud shriek disrupts the tense silence.

“It’s a nevermore!” Nora shouts up from the cargo bay “no, wait, multiple nevermore! A whole swarm!  Heading towards us from uh… 8 o’clock”

And then there is no time for thinking. Ruby pushes open the hatch, summons her aura, secures one hook in a waiting ring and steps onto the roof. The wind is strong and biting, making her eyes water and her skin tingle. She turns around and faces the direction Nora gave them.

And there they are

A swarm of nevermore. Made up of three giant ones and countless smaller ones. Chills are running down her back. a thought settles in, the thought of “I don’t want to die here”

Ruby turns towards Ren who’s standing just below the opening in the roof “go and help Nora! We need all the firepower we can get!” He nods and runs off and then Ruby is alone.

She can feel she ship jolt as it accelerates and for a moment she turns around. She shoreline really isn’t too far ahead. Maybe another 10 to 15 minutes but it might not be enough. It won’t be enough.

But they have to try anyway, they have to try, have to fight have to… have to…

Ruby turns back around, unfolding Crescent Rose and gripping her tightly.

They are coming closer. And closer and Ruby swallows. Not the first time she faced and defeated a nevermore but the last time she had her own team by her side.

She just has to hold on. Literally.

Ruby aims Crescent Rose and begins to fire into the swarm.

Below her, Nora and Ren open fire as well. A few small nevermore dissolve, a giant one breaks off from the group to fly lower, but they don’t lose speed. Someone is shouting something but can not make out what or who, the ship lurches again and Ruby can feel it losing altitude.

One of Nora’s grenades flies directly into the mouth of a giant nevermore and explodes. Ruby can hear cheering from inside the ship. One down, two to go. But it was a lucky shot and their luck seems to run out because just moments later they are onto them. The air is filled with black particles originating from dissolving grimm and pink dust from Nora’s grenades, Ruby coughs and swings crescent rose, cutting through the bodies of the smaller raven-like grimm.

A jolt to the left, Ruby looks over and sees the left engines on fire. This is not good.

“I can hold the ship, buy me some time!” she can barely make out Olivia’s words.

And somewhere in the back of Ruby’s mind something klicks. There’s not enough time and there is no way she will once again lose a single person put under her protection. She pulls out her scroll, Ren and Nora’s aura levels are low, really low, hers isn’t as well of either. There is no time.

Ruby bends down towards the hatch “Jaune! I need to go airborne! I have to use my semblance, it’s our only chance.”

Jaune runs towards the hatch and looks up “Ruby that’s suicide!”

A crooked smile steals its way onto Ruby’s face “maybe, but it will buy us time”

“Don’t do this! Ruby!”

She doesn’t listen. For a moment Ruby closes her eyes, remembering what Iolith, her mother and all the others taught her in her dreams. Control it, it’s yours, this power, your aura and your semblance. Warmth spreads over her body, Ruby opens her eyes and stares directly into the eyes of a giant nevermore. It feels like a motor that won’t quite start, like a lighter without a spark. The fuel is there but nothing to ignite it. Her eyes feel like they heat up, but nothing comes bursting out.

Well… at least she tried. Only one thing left to do.

Ruby dissolves into rose petals and throws herself at the giant rim with a cry of anger.

They collide in midair, crescent rose slicing through feathers and flesh and severing a wing.

She probably should have done that like 5 minutes ago…

Just as the bird begins to fall Ruby launches herself to the last remaining giant nevermore only to see…

Ren and Nora fighting against the swarm of small nevermore. Usually, no problem but they just keep coming, it seems like for every grim they destroy two new appear they fly into the cargo bay, launch themselves against walls, against the wings of the airship, into the thrusters.

And then the second engine explodes, and the ship begins to fall. Ruby clings onto the back of the last remaining giant nevermore and watches in horror as the aircraft plummets through the air towards the ground surrounded by a cloud of Nevermore and the spark that had been missing earlier ignites.

The world turns white and Ruby falls to the ground.

The water is cold and hard when she hits it.

 

~~it hurts~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you liked it. I might be a bit evil for leaving you with this cliffhanger (and I'm not sorry for it)  
> By the way, I'm currently sitting on a train on my way to visit my sister and I'm using the train's wifi to update this.  
> In case you want to stalk me on social media, my twitter is @zeitwaechterin
> 
> I'll try to update as soon as I can (which might take a month)


	6. And our dreams are scattering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first breath of air burns like hell but at the same time feels like heaven, Ruby coughs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in time for the season 6 premiere!  
> Sorry once again that it took so long. 
> 
> As always if you find spelling/grammar mistakes just tell me, I promise I won't bite

Ruby comes to underwater, just below the surface, nose filled with liquid, eyes burning from the salt of the sea, air bubbles escaping her mouth. She flails and struggles her way up to get her head above the water.

The first breath of air burns like hell but at the same time feels like heaven, Ruby coughs.

In a sudden surge of panic, she searches for Crescent Rose only to find her scythe still clipped to her belt. Her dress soaked and heavy tries to pull her back under. She must find land, and she has to get there quick. her body feels sore, the water to cold and she is pretty sure that he aura didn’t survive the impact.

She paddles around in a circle, trying to find… the shore maybe 300 feet away on her left and close to the shore on the beach but still in the water their smoking airship. Ruby takes a few deep breaths, trying to gather what strength she has left to stay above water, and swim towards the shore.

Her limbs feel heavy, her body cold and sore and she just wants to fall down on the ground and sleep but for that to happen she has to reach the ground first. So, she swims and swims, fighting to keep her head above the waves fighting to keep her breathing calm and steady. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thanks whatever gods might exist that she grew up on patch, grew up on an island surrounded by water, thanks the fact that she knew how to swim by the time she was three, thanks her uncle Qrow for all the training he put her through to strengthen her stamina.

And then she feels ground under her feet, it feels like what heaven must feel like, Ruby fights her way up towards the shore, feet heavy, step by step, close to collapsing. Every move feels like a battle, her soaked dress heavy, water sloshing in her boots and the comforting weight of crescent rose on her belt only adding to the amount of force pulling her down towards the ground. And then the water is only ankle deep and Ruby collapses onto hands and knees, dropping to the ground with a splash and a heavy and tired sigh of relieve. She made it, she’s still alive – somehow. But what about her team, what about Olivia.

Ruby drags herself forward on her hands and knees until she’s out of the water, intent on somehow getting up and searching for her teammates only to collapse into the sand.

It’s no use. She’s beyond exhausted. If it weren’t for her aura she wouldn’t have survived the fall, if it not for her birthplace and her uncle's training she would never have made it too dry land. But all of that is no use if she can’t find her team. She might be the only survivor and that thought is more than horrifying. A sob wrecks her small frame as panic sets in. she doesn’t want to be alone! She doesn’t want to be left behind!

 

Then she hears someone calling her name. At first, she puts it up to wishful thinking and exhaustion, but then it happens again “RUBY! Oh my God Ruby, are you all right?!”

She turns her head to her left to see Jaune, wet and hair tussled and dirty running towards her. Something inside her loosens at the sight, panic is mostly replaced by relief. Jaune survived, that means the others might have too, which means she’s not the last one left behind. And Ruby starts to cry.

Jaune falls to his knees right next to her head, grabs her shoulder and carefully turns her onto her back. Ruby just lets it happen, too exhausted to even move.

“Hi,” she says, voice weak and a bit scratchy from coughing up all the water she inhaled when she went under “you’re alive! Are the others?”

“yes, everyone made it out. Nora and Ren got a few cuts and bruises and Olivia is still unconscious but she’s breathing so that’s a good thing.”

“Ok,” Ruby sighs closing her eyes. Breathing hurts, also her skin aches

“Hey! Don’t fall asleep on me!” Jaune slightly slaps her face and Ruby opens her eyes back up “that’s better! We need to get you to the others, I made a fire. We have to get you warm and dry before you get hypothermia!”

Oh right, she’s cold, she didn’t even notice. She must have stopped shivering a while ago.

“Can you stand?”

Ruby hesitates for a moment “uh… I’m not sure”

“That’s ok, I’ll help you up, come on” he pulls her up but in the end, Ruby’s knees seem to refuse cooperation so what started as Jaune talking on half of her weight ends up as a piggyback ride.

“how come you’re all right?” Ruby asks once she’s safe on his back

“I’ve been told that I have a lot of Aura. I still have some left, it never shattered and survived the impact. I have a few bruises, but you’re all of way worse off than me”

“I’m glad” Ruby whispers “I’m glad you survived. I’m not sure if I could have handled another death.”

Jaune doesn’t answer but his grip on her legs tightens.

 

“Ruby! You’re ok!” Nora shouts as they round a rather large tree and enter a makeshift campsite. She’s kneeling next to a terrifyingly unmoving Olivia, parts of her dress are torn she’s dirty, her hair slightly wet and there is a rather large bruise forming on her left cheek but she’s alive and while Jaune already told her so, seeing it for herself is a relief.

Ruby manages a weak “hi” and then Nora is already by her side, helping her off Jaune's back and then Jaune and her are pulling her towards to fire to lay down next to it and get warm

“Ren is back at the wreck looking if more of our stuff has survived the crash,” Nora says while pulling out her scroll and shining its lamp into Ruby’s eyes

“thanks, I’ll go help him, look after Ruby we need to get her dry and warm!”

He leaves. Nora helps Ruby sit up and then goes to unbuckle her boots.

“how did you survive the crash?”

Nora looks up into Ruby’s eyes “You. We survived mostly because of you. You did the thing. The thing with your eyes you told us you did at beacon and all the grimm disappeared. The ship was still crashing but with the nevermore gone I was able to grab Ren and my hammer, and the grenades gave us enough boost to slow our fall. Our Aura did the rest. We’re still completely depleted but we’re alive and mostly unharmed.”

Ruby exhales sharply and winches when a stab of pain shoots through her rips “I’m glad, I was so worried I might be the only one left alive”

“well, we were worried too! Ren and I saw you, you fell towards the ocean like a stone, not moving at all. We thought you might have drowned.” Nora moves to undo Ruby’s corset and Ruby winches once again when her fingers touch her ribs

“oh, think they’re bruised?”

Ruby nods

“Oh, ok, I’ll be careful then. We still need to get you out of these wet clothes, also sorry to inform you but I think you need a new dress, this one is like really torn up”

Ruby looks down and Nora is right. Her skirt is in ribbons, her sleeves torn at the seams. “well we’ll just have to buy new clothes when we reach the next town” her teeth have started clattering, when did this happen… but it’s good, it means she’s starting to warm back up again.

Nora helps her out of her wet clothes until she’s down to her thighs and underwear. Then she stands up and walks over to a backpack leaning against a tree “some things stayed dry, Ren’s backpack was one of the things” she says as an explanation and pulls out a blanket in which she wraps Ruby in “ok, stay next to the fire and try to stay awake as long as you can. If I remember the stuff they told us in first aid on the battlefield, then you shouldn’t have a concussion but I’m not sure so it’s better if you just… don’t fall asleep. I’ll check on Olivia”

She kneels next to the still body of their pilot and moves to take her pulse.

“is she ok?”

“I don’t know. Jaune said he tried to shield her as good as he was able to but I’m not sure if she had much aura to work with and break her fall to begin with. He said she hit her head on the console, and there is a gash at her hairline and I’m pretty sure her arm might be broken. But I’m no medic and all we have is the first aid training we got at Beacon, we just have to get her to a real doctor as quickly as we can.”

Ruby closes her eyes and burrows herself deeper into the blanket. She thinks she can feel her toes again, she’s pretty sure she lost the feel of them some time ago. Still shivering though. And really thirsty and hungry.

She just hopes that Olivia makes it, hopes Anais won’t have to go through losing her sister.

 

“We’re back and we found out ammunition and out bags, but they are wet”

“We also found a few dust crystals and some fire-dust. Might come in handy with drying our clothes!”

Ruby turns away from the fire, Jaune and Ren are back, both carrying multiple bags.

Ren’s face fills with relief when he spots her huddled by the fire “Ruby, it’s great to see you!”

Ruby smiles up at him “thanks Ren, you too!”

“I found your bag, but it got wet, and a bit singed. No idea what you’ll be able to salvage.”

He hands the tattered backpack to Ruby who immediately opens the flap to peer inside.

Her sleeping bag though wet seems to be intact mostly, the change of clothes she had with her is soaked and singed at the same time, but Ruby doesn’t really care about all of that, she pulls out stuff until she gets to the bottom her bag to an envelope stuffed into a clear plastic bag. She grabs it with shivering hands. It’s intact, only slightly wet.

With trembling fingers, she pulls it out of the bag, opens the envelope and unfolds the letter. The ink is slightly smudged in some places, but the words are still clear and eligible.

Ruby wants to hug the letter against her chest, but her bra is still wet, and she doesn’t want to damage it further. She brings it up to her lips instead and presses a kiss to the paper right over the signature.

They are alive. Battered and bruised and maybe a bit more broken than just a few days ago but they are all still breathing. And somewhere up in Atlas in something close to a golden cage is Weiss. Breathing and alive and beautiful and probably waiting for another letter and Ruby just wants to get back to civilization right now and write that letter. But she’s still shivering, and Nora and Ren are trying to figure out the fastest way to dry their wet clothes using the fire dust and Jaune is splinting Olivia’s arm and taking her pulse. So, surviving first, telling your friends, family, and girlfriend that you survived second. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

Ruby carefully folds the letter back up and put’s it back into the envelope.

Her canteen with water is at the bottom of her backpack, it’s a bit banged up but the water’s still good. Ruby takes a large swig from it and sighs.

 

“So, any idea in which direction we should head in?”

Ren looks up from his task, he’s holding a small bottle of fire-dust in the one hand and Ruby’s tattered skirt in the other. “when Nora and I were falling we saw a settlement a couple miles south from here but we won’t reach it before it’s completely dark. Also, you’re still injured, we are all exhausted and since two of us will have to carry Olivia… let’s just say I think we should rest first and then head out as soon as the sun is up.”

Jaune nods “yes, I think that would be best. As much as I really want to get her to the nearest doctor, we are vulnerable right now, and traveling in the dark is never a good idea.”

“how is she?” Nora’s voice is uncharacteristically quiet, almost as if she doesn’t really want to know the answer.

Jaune sighs and moves to take her pulse again “stable – I think. She’s breathing on her own and her heartbeat is a bit slow but it’s steady. She just hit her head pretty hard and won’t wake up.” Jaune togs eh banked a bit tighter around the unconscious body of their pilot then moves over to sit down next to Ruby he smiles reassuringly and then takes her wrist in search for her pulse “you’re still really cold”

“Yes, but I’m shivering now, I didn’t do that earlier.”

Jaune nods slowly “Nora said that your ribs hurt?”

“It hurts to breathe a bit, but I think they’re just bruised. I kind of lost consciousness when my eyes kicked in, so I have no idea how I hit the water, I only came back when I was already under.”

All movement in their small encampment stops dead in its tracks. All sound except for their breathing cases to exist.

Ruby turns around to Nora and Ren who have for the moment given up their efforts of drying their clothing

“what, did I say something?”

Nora shakes her head “how are you even alive! No landing strategy, only limited amounts of aura left, and we were a couple hundred feet in the air!”

Ruby shrugs her shoulders “luck I guess, also Iolith has this theory that my semblance is at its core really the ability to change my density and molecules into rose petals, maybe that saved my life.”

The silence that follows her statement is heavy, the meaning behind Ruby’s words clear. According to logic, she should be dead. She isn’t. But if not for luck she probably would be.

Jaune cracks a crooked smile “well you’re still here, that’s all that matters. Right? Now come on, let me see your ribs, just to make sure”

 

Ruby’s ribs really do appear to simply be bruised. Ren cracks open a can of pre-prepared stew and they heat it on the fire. It tastes cheap and under seasoned but it’s hot and that makes it perfect. Jaune insists on taking the first watch and Jaune Ren and Nora insist on Ruby to sleep through till morning.

Ruby only mildly protests. 

By the time they’re ready to sleep, Nora has managed to dry their wet clothing and so Ruby falls asleep, wrapped in her red cloak and a scratchy woolen blanket next to the fire.

 

“You’re alive! That’s good.” Says the king. He is kneeling next to Ruby’s head.

Ruby groans softly, it might only be a dream but still, she has no intention of getting up from the ground.

“Otherwise the future of the world might have been in danger. Your mother is pleased with the outcome as well.”

Ruby moves her torso and turns her head to get a better look at Iolith

“You know saying stuff like that is why I tried to run away from destiny in the first place”

Iolith only smiles “you did well silver child, though lacking in training and finesse you managed to once again trigger your power and save the people under your care. Quite an impressing task for a mere novice.”

“One day I will get you to tell me what that destiny is that I’m supposed to fulfill”

Iolith only pats her hair “we’ll see, silver child. For now, rest and sleep, you’ve earned it”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger resolved. :D  
> Do you know how I got the idea of their airship crashing? The change of outfits between season 3 and 4. Plus Ruby starts the journey with a huge backpack and ends it with a small one. Conclusion: they lost parts of their luggage and probably ruined their clothes.  
> next update will probably be at the end of November


End file.
